Articles Tagged withprison sentence

Waveney Blackman, the owner of durable medical equipment company WaveCare Health services, has been charged with one act of healthcare fraud for filing claims to Medicaid for products that were never purchased through her business. Blackman pleaded guilty to these charges after one month and has been sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $9.4 million, the sum of WaveCare’s proceeds from fraudulent claims.

During the years of 2010 to 2016, Blackman filed multiple claims to Medicaid for incontinence products, wound care supplies, and other pieces of durable medical equipment that resulted in revenue of $9.4 million. None of these products were ever given to Medicaid clients or even requested by one. These fraudulent claims were filed by Blackman herself, along with the assistance of her employees through a WaveCare biller.

Within one month of being charged, Blackman signed a plea agreement that detailed the illegal actions taken, as well as the proceeds she received from them. The government has seized a Mercedes, seven properties, and money traced to two separate bank accounts, and the judge ordered Blackman to pay the total of $9.4 million WaveCare reportedly received in fraudulent claims. She will also be sentenced to 42 months in prison.

Mental health company owner, Catinia Denise Farrington of Cyprus, Texas, pleaded guilty to health care fraud and tax evasion in September of 2018. As of March 1st, 2019, she has been sentenced to 60 months in prison after profiting $4 million from Medicaid and just under $400,000 from her tax evasion scheme.

Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

According to prosecutors, Farrington owned a mental health care company out of North Carolina, Durham County Mental Health and Behavioral Health Services, LLC. Through this company, she submitted thousands of fraudulent claims to Medicaid for services that were never performed. These incidents occurred between 2011 and 2015, but this is not the only fraudulent activity that Farrington participated in during this time.